Stephanie Kwolek’s research with
high performance chemical compounds for the DuPont Company led to the development
of a synthetic material called Kevlar which is five times stronger than
the same weight of steel. Kevlar, patented by Kwolek in 1966, does not
rust nor corrode and is extremely lightweight. Many police officers owe
their lives to Stephanie Kwolek, for Kevlar is the material used in
bullet
proof vests. Other applications of the compound include underwater
cables, brake linings, space vehicles, boats, parachutes, skis, and building
materials.

Stephanie Kwolek was born in New
Kensington, Pennsylvania in 1923. Upon graduating in 1946 from the Carnegie
Institute of Technology (now Carnegie-Mellon University) with a bachelor’s
degree, Stephanie Kwolek went to work as a chemist at the DuPont Company.
She would ultimately obtain 28 patents during her 40-year tenure as a research
scientist. In 1995, Stephanie Kwolek was inducted into the National Inventors
Hall of Fame.